It has been a couple of weeks since I last made an entry in my blog as much has been going on. A while back I had mentioned some information on Chromium and how it helps to regulate the glucose in our systems. I had asked my doctor that I wanted to see if I was deficient in Chromium as I was starting to have sugar problems. I am pre-diabetic but have crossed over once into being a diabetic so I wanted to have this checked.
The results are in and my Chromium level is a 1. Normal is 1-3 but seeing that my number is at the lower end of normal I am going to start taking a Chromium supplement and see what happens. At present my A1C is down to 6 from 6.1.
My liver function is also improving as back in April it was ALT 152 now it is 100 and the AST was 91 and is now 69. So clearly exercising is helping to bring those liver functions down so if your doctor has said exercise, they know what they are talking about.
There are however some new developments where six other fields were low and three new ones are high so I will be investigating those. I am anemic so that is one that I can work on getting my numbers back up with taking Iron. I don't like taking it as it makes me itch but I will try it every other day and see where that gets me. My doctor also increased my thyroid medicine as that was one that was high. It was increased to 50 but my legs felt like jello so I told my doctor I was splitting the 50 in half and then splitting a 25 in half which makes it 37.5 instead of 50. I can handle that much better and we will check the TSH in six weeks.
My other problem with the Cardiolipids has also slightly improved. It was 33.8 in April but has gone down to 32.4 but my D-Dimer has gone from 151 up to 223 which the cut off is 230 so I am getting up the scale to developing clots again. I do think that has a lot to do with not going to the gym because of my knee and the abdominal tear and I have done a lot more sitting than normal.
So the plan for the above is to take the Chromium supplement and Iron to see if I can improve some of those numbers. Investigate what might cause the other items to be low and get back to working out.
I did make it to the gym yesterday to "play". I did a full 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and did 30 minutes of weight training. Boy do my arms tell me today that I used them. The knee is rather sore but I put on the little knee band and that helps. I will just have to take it slow and easy. Any way that I look at it I have to move 30 - 60 minutes a day to stay away from forming new clots. I hope I can avoid that for as long as possible.
So what else is new? Well I have decided to look into the Medical Weight Loss of New York to see if they can't help me formulate a better meal plan and get this weight off. I do not wish to have surgery and I am not looking for any fast reduction of weight as my body is already under stress. They do have three weight loss programs. One is with conventional food and the other two are plans that incorporate supplementing food with a weight loss drink, snack bars and soup. They are out of system so do not handle insurance so it will come all out of pocket. They did send me a price list and Friday of next week I will meet with a person and ask questions and then decide if they can indeed help me. I don't want to waste money as I don't have any to throw away. So I will share with you what I learn next week and if I can I will add a link to their page.
That is the update for this week. Keep smiling and moving forward on your own journey of living well!
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Progress and Information on Fatty Liver Disease
Despite lower back pain and knee pain I have stayed true to trying to do 5,000 steps everyday. Here are the numbers M 5,614; T 6,120; W 4,304; Th 4,888 and F 2,600. Yesterday was not a good day to go out and walk as it was just to hot and humid. With my asthma and MS it would not have been wise to push things. Today is a new day so I will continue to strive for that 5,000 steps or more.
I do work a sedentary job so I do not get in as much walking as I would like. I do get up and walk around some but sometimes I end up sitting for long periods which isn't good. At home my small apartment does not lend me to take many steps so the only alternative is to go outside to walk. I could walk the halls of the apartment complex but that gets really boring even walking both upstairs and down. Yesterday I made sure I got to a store and walked around as I only had maybe 600 steps logged when I was home.
I also am doing well with my meal prepping and that has made things real easy with all of this heat. I made up a tossed salad which I can add other items if I choose. I also made up some egg salad and some deviled eggs (only used two eggs). Slicing up raw veggies is also been helpful as I can easily grab a few pepper slices and cut them up to throw in stir fry or any other dish that they might go with or just eat them raw.
I have purchased the book, Skinny Liver by Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD and Ibrahim Hanouneh, MD. This is a book that has really opened my eyes as to the seriousness of Fatty Liver Disease. So many people are diagnosed with this disease but are truly unaware of how ignoring this disease could mean their lives.
The liver is quite fascinating as it has quite an effect on how our bodies function. If you have a thyroid problem this can start the change of events as the thyroid can affect how the liver operates. If a person is eating an unhealthy diet the liver has to work extremely hard to process what is being sent to it to filter. Add any wine or other substances and it works even harder and even has some cell die off.
To add further problems, being sedentary means the body isn't burning the calories that are being taken in and then that leads to fat getting stored in the liver and in other areas. If fat starts to infiltrate the liver then the liver cannot regulate the glucose in the body which then makes the pancreas start to pump out more insulin.
If a person doesn't change to a healthy diet and start to exercise to use the built up energy store of fat the liver will continue to enlarge with fat deposits and can eventually cause cirrhosis or even liver cancer. You do not have to be an alcoholic to develop cirrhosis of the liver.
The liver is resilient so if a person takes to eating right and exercising to lose fat and can get to losing the fat in the liver the liver an heal itself but only if you are consistent. I have been told it can take up to three years to fix my liver and since I have gotten to the point where so many things are going wrong health wise, this is a condition I cannot ignore. That is why I am on this journey to living well and hope to keep motivated and moving forward in this battle.
Since doctors do not educate their patients about fatty liver, they usually say just eat a low fat diet and exercise, many patients do not see the urgency about doing something before things start to get out of control. Waiting means that it will take longer to rectify the problem and other health issue can get in the way of making progress. I find that I have to take my health into my own hands and when I see my doctors I am not afraid to question them. Some do not like to have a patient question, as in my case, I have found some of my doctors do not even have knowledge about the problem, so how can they advise me. I prefer that if a doctor doesn't know much about a condition he/she should refer the patient to a doctor that specializes in that field. That way a patient can get the knowledge and care that they need to gain back their health.
This book has a lot of good research information and gives good advise on how to get moving in the right direction. There are also recipes in the back and ways to start moving and getting more exercise in. Just remember exercise as going out to play or recess to keep it enjoyable. That mindset has been helping me out in being as consistent as I can with getting movement in.
I hope this post will help someone else out there dealing with this same problem. Feel free to comment if you find this information helpful.
Have a great week!
I do work a sedentary job so I do not get in as much walking as I would like. I do get up and walk around some but sometimes I end up sitting for long periods which isn't good. At home my small apartment does not lend me to take many steps so the only alternative is to go outside to walk. I could walk the halls of the apartment complex but that gets really boring even walking both upstairs and down. Yesterday I made sure I got to a store and walked around as I only had maybe 600 steps logged when I was home.
I also am doing well with my meal prepping and that has made things real easy with all of this heat. I made up a tossed salad which I can add other items if I choose. I also made up some egg salad and some deviled eggs (only used two eggs). Slicing up raw veggies is also been helpful as I can easily grab a few pepper slices and cut them up to throw in stir fry or any other dish that they might go with or just eat them raw.
I have purchased the book, Skinny Liver by Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD and Ibrahim Hanouneh, MD. This is a book that has really opened my eyes as to the seriousness of Fatty Liver Disease. So many people are diagnosed with this disease but are truly unaware of how ignoring this disease could mean their lives.
The liver is quite fascinating as it has quite an effect on how our bodies function. If you have a thyroid problem this can start the change of events as the thyroid can affect how the liver operates. If a person is eating an unhealthy diet the liver has to work extremely hard to process what is being sent to it to filter. Add any wine or other substances and it works even harder and even has some cell die off.
To add further problems, being sedentary means the body isn't burning the calories that are being taken in and then that leads to fat getting stored in the liver and in other areas. If fat starts to infiltrate the liver then the liver cannot regulate the glucose in the body which then makes the pancreas start to pump out more insulin.
If a person doesn't change to a healthy diet and start to exercise to use the built up energy store of fat the liver will continue to enlarge with fat deposits and can eventually cause cirrhosis or even liver cancer. You do not have to be an alcoholic to develop cirrhosis of the liver.
The liver is resilient so if a person takes to eating right and exercising to lose fat and can get to losing the fat in the liver the liver an heal itself but only if you are consistent. I have been told it can take up to three years to fix my liver and since I have gotten to the point where so many things are going wrong health wise, this is a condition I cannot ignore. That is why I am on this journey to living well and hope to keep motivated and moving forward in this battle.
Since doctors do not educate their patients about fatty liver, they usually say just eat a low fat diet and exercise, many patients do not see the urgency about doing something before things start to get out of control. Waiting means that it will take longer to rectify the problem and other health issue can get in the way of making progress. I find that I have to take my health into my own hands and when I see my doctors I am not afraid to question them. Some do not like to have a patient question, as in my case, I have found some of my doctors do not even have knowledge about the problem, so how can they advise me. I prefer that if a doctor doesn't know much about a condition he/she should refer the patient to a doctor that specializes in that field. That way a patient can get the knowledge and care that they need to gain back their health.
This book has a lot of good research information and gives good advise on how to get moving in the right direction. There are also recipes in the back and ways to start moving and getting more exercise in. Just remember exercise as going out to play or recess to keep it enjoyable. That mindset has been helping me out in being as consistent as I can with getting movement in.
I hope this post will help someone else out there dealing with this same problem. Feel free to comment if you find this information helpful.
Have a great week!
Monday, July 1, 2019
Setback Update
Good news, things seem to be slowly moving forward with healing from all three injuries. It certainly has shown me how to have patients. I still am eager to hit the gym again but have just decided to take a week and walk outside since we have been having some drier weather. I do have to wait until it is cooler in the day because of the MS. Nothing like stepping out in the heat and feel like you are going to just melt into a puddle, so keeping cool is important.
Besides walking I have also started to wear my pedometer and am just aiming for 5,000 steps and if I can do more that is great. I want to get my knee and leg muscles built up enough before going back to the gym. I am also doing more chair exercises but have gotten down on the floor a few times yet being on the knee still is uncomfortable. I have also gone back to doing a journal of what I am eating but I haven't seen to much of a change from what I was doing before. I have lost eight pounds of some of the weight I put back on after not moving much for the past month which is a relief. I do know that some of that was from fluid retention as I did have swelling in my legs but that is all gone now.
With warm weather being here I am back to eating toss salads. I like to make my salads interesting and dressing them up. I like to add roasted or raw pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, black olives, red bell peppers, shredded carrots and cucumbers. I also like to add tuna fish, egg salad, baked fish or chicken, or a deli meat for protein. I do my best to keep this to two ounces no more that three ounces at the most. I also like to add fresh or dried fruit like mandarin oranges, grapes or cranberries. I try not to use salad dressing but if I do, I use only one tablespoon not two or I will use some dried spices. Penzeys has a really nice salad spice topping that I like to sprinkle on. It has a little zip to it and is a very nice change from using salad dressings. I have found I need to be creative when it comes to making my salads as a meal in order to feel satisfied and keep eating salads as it can be hard to do at times.
For this week the goal is to get in those 5,000 steps a day, exercise for 20 -30 minutes for chair and light weights and continue to journal food intake.
Until next time stay positive and have a great week!
Besides walking I have also started to wear my pedometer and am just aiming for 5,000 steps and if I can do more that is great. I want to get my knee and leg muscles built up enough before going back to the gym. I am also doing more chair exercises but have gotten down on the floor a few times yet being on the knee still is uncomfortable. I have also gone back to doing a journal of what I am eating but I haven't seen to much of a change from what I was doing before. I have lost eight pounds of some of the weight I put back on after not moving much for the past month which is a relief. I do know that some of that was from fluid retention as I did have swelling in my legs but that is all gone now.
With warm weather being here I am back to eating toss salads. I like to make my salads interesting and dressing them up. I like to add roasted or raw pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, black olives, red bell peppers, shredded carrots and cucumbers. I also like to add tuna fish, egg salad, baked fish or chicken, or a deli meat for protein. I do my best to keep this to two ounces no more that three ounces at the most. I also like to add fresh or dried fruit like mandarin oranges, grapes or cranberries. I try not to use salad dressing but if I do, I use only one tablespoon not two or I will use some dried spices. Penzeys has a really nice salad spice topping that I like to sprinkle on. It has a little zip to it and is a very nice change from using salad dressings. I have found I need to be creative when it comes to making my salads as a meal in order to feel satisfied and keep eating salads as it can be hard to do at times.
For this week the goal is to get in those 5,000 steps a day, exercise for 20 -30 minutes for chair and light weights and continue to journal food intake.
Until next time stay positive and have a great week!
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